Spring Haze

Along Druid Hill Creek are uncountable wild honeysuckle bushes that often burst into leaf this time of year. They're a principal part of the undergrowth along the banks during summer, when the foliage is so thick and abundant you can't see the creek below. This time of year though, the bare brown-black banks and green-brown water reflect bare trees above. And this time of year the partially-open leaf buds give the woods a spring green haze, just at the tops of their tiny branches. 

"Honeysuckle Haze," wc/ink on paper, 7x5

When I do sketches of the creek, I stand in a north window of my home studio, which gives me a view straight downstream. The creek swings from a northeasterly to a northern course just under my window. This is a small watercolor painting, not in a sketchbook. The dark skies and near monochromatic landscape are both common in early April, but the honeysuckle haze means spring is truly here.

Waterworks Bridge

Last Saturday our sketch group decided it was time to check out any early budding and spring flowers in Waterworks Park, the enormous park along the Raccoon River, not far from my home studio. The weather has been warming so that there is a faint glow of green and here and there pink-red halos, but no outright flowers and no fully=leafed trees. But the sun was bright in the cold spring air. 

"Waterworks Bridge," wc on paper, 5x14

I sat in my car and sketched this view of an old bridge across the Raccoon River that now carries pedestrians and cyclists into deeper woods, eventually leading to Greenwood Park, a mile or two north, where the Des Moines Art Center is located. This old steel truss bridge probably dates back a century, and it's appropriately rusted and worn. In order to get as much of the approach and a bit of the river into the image I adopted a wide panorama for this one. I sketched the main structure of the bridge but omitted parts that would have been confusing, in favor of the overall image. The trees at either end were actually present, but the near bushes and distant tree line were invented. As many landscape painters do, I "pushed" the chroma of the near bushes and distant trees as well as the blue of the water. In reality the Raccoon is often muddy=brown in spring.  

Druid Hill Gouache

"Aftermath," gouache on gesso panel, 6x8

Although it's one of the art media I've tried, gouache isn't a big part of my practice. Over the years I've done portraits, landscapes and even still life in gouache, but watercolor and oil paintings far outnumber those. Still, there is a silky feel to the paint, a little like oils, and gouache is water soluble like watercolor and acrylic, but opaque. Some call gouache opaque watercolor, actually. 

This work was done looking out my studio window one very snowy day in the middle of February 2020. The weather as I remember it was frigid but sunny, as is often the case following a big storm. 
 

Iowa Pagoda

"Midwestern Pagoda,? wc/ink on paper

Although Des Moines is a medium-size city in the upper Midwest, we have an Asian garden along the river front, a monument to one of Iowa's great governors, Robert Ray. During the era of war in Southeast Asia, Governor Ray was instrumental in saving many Southeast Asian peoples from starvation and/or political oppression. He was the first public official anywhere in the nation to offer safe haven (Iowa) to Vietnamese boat people; and he welcomed Laotian and Cambodian refugees as well, many of whom still live here. The garden not only memorializes the governor but emphasizes to the nation that diversity and inclusion are crucial parts of an open society.  

The weather was beautiful. I sat on a block of stone and sketched the upper roof-lines of the main structure in the garden, a traditional Chinese pagoda, its upturned corners a sharp contrast with contemporary architecture looming on the opposite bank of the river. These tiered roofs are a constant architectural element of pagodas, which traditionally symbolize the Buddhist journey towards enlightenment. Each tier is a different stage of spiritual development. Pagodas are also symbolic of traditional elements fire, air, earth, water; and are revered places of peace and contemplation.

 

 

Uprstream, Spring

"On the Creek Bank, April," mixed media on paper, ~5x8

It won't be long until this image will match the changes along Druid Hill Creek. This particular sketch actually looks upstream toward a small bluff over the eroded channel to the south. The water turns a rusty red-brown when sediment from the uprstream golf course starts to wash down in spring. 

This was done on the spot, in a small sketchbook, but unlike other works this is not only watercolor and ink but there are touches of gouache as well, hence the "mixed media"label. 

Old Favorite

Like most, there are favorites from my past that I sometimes like to see. This one is a small ink and watercolor sketch done around sunrise in Redmond, Washington. We were visiting relatives and the low angle of the sunlight was attractive. This sketch is roughly 6x3 in a pocket sketchbook. I had seen the sunrise behind the nearby pines and above distant evergreens a number of times before doing this small piece. I've often thought it would be a great reference for a larger oil. 

On the Shelf

Of all the subjects I've done in watercolor, still life is the least common. Over the years most of my watercolors have been plein air sketching outdoors, with a sprinkling of interiors done when weather wasn't hospitable for outdoor work.But this subject--three figurines of mine that I see every day--has been on my mind for a while. 

The three figures are quite diverse. There is a netsuke figure, a reproduction of a famous buddha figure, and a reproduction of a gargoyle from Notre Dame. Netsuke are very small, an art form that evolved from a more utilitarian purpose into exquisite works. The buddha is a copy of the Kamakura daibutusu--an enormous bronze statute of Amitabha, a prominent buddha of East Asia. The statue is hollow, nearly 45 feet tall, built about 1252.